Automatically releasable long thong ski binding



Sept. 13, 1966 M. H. CUBBERLEY AUTOMATICALLY RELEASABLE LONG THONG SKI BINDING 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 4, 1964 INVENTOR. M70454 6/ (hear/Paar M. H. CUBBERLEY 3,272,524

AUTOMATICALLY RELEASABLE LONG THONG SKI BINDING Sept. 13, 1966 Filed March 4, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Mzzmsz; 5 (baas zzy ATTOR Eys;

. ww Q R lx United States Patent 3,272,524 AUTGMATMJALLY RELEASABLE LQNG THUNG 3K1 BINDING Mitchell H. Cubberiey, 121 Bell Sta, Belleville, NJ. Filed Mar. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 349,243 10 Claims. ((11. 280-1135) This invention relates to an improved binding for releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski, and more particularly, to a binding of this type which is sufliciently resilient to avoid unnecessarily releasing the ski in response to the sudden shocks encountered in normal skiing but which is adapted to release the ski in re sponse to a steady strong pull exerted on the binding as a result of a hard fall or other serious mishap.

Many skiers prefer to use long thong ski bindings in which a strap or long thong attached directly to the ski is wrapped around the skiers boot to hold down the heel of the boot firmly against the top of the ski. Direct attachment of the skiers boot in this manner gives the skier excellent control but fails to provide quick and automatic release of the ski in the event of a fall or other mishap. Consequently, use of such a binding is hazardous although common among expert skiers who are willing to forego safety to obtain the advantages of a secure heel attachment. For this reason, it has long been recognized that novice and other less-than-expert skiers would use the long thong binding if it could be made safe by providing means which automatically release the ski from the boot in the event of a serious fall or other mishap in which the lever action of the ski would be likely to cause serious harm, e.g., to break bones in the skiers leg.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a ski binding having the desired boot-engaging long thong but which includes means for quickly and automatically releasing the boot from the ski in response to a strong steady pull.

It is another object of the invention to provide a long thong ski binding, including automatic release means, which normally holds the heel firmly against the ski but which is sufiiciently resilient to absorb the sudden shocks of normal skiing without releasing the ski although adapted automatically to release the ski in response to an abnormally strong steady pull.

These and other objects of the invention are achieved by providing a novel long thong heel binding, releasably attachable to a ski by means including a tensioned leaf spring, which will now be described in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a ski equipped with a novel ski boot heel binding of this inven-' tion and showing an independent boot toe retaining device;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the ski and ski bindings of FIG. 1, the heel and toe portions of the engaged ski boot being shown in broken lines;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view through the ski and boot heel binding taken on the line 3-3 in FIG. 2, the boot heel binding being releasably coupled to the ski, the heel of the engaged boot being shown in broken lines, and this view being drawn on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the boot heel binding of FIG. 3 showing the heel binding including a tensioned leaf spring displaced in an upward direction from the ski in the position it would occupy just prior to release of the ski; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view, partly in section, of the heel binding showing the spike of a ski pole inserted in the relaxed leaf spring to aid in tensioning the spring and forcing it into releasable engagement with a spring retaining latch means; and

3,272,524 Patented Sept. 13, 1966 FIG. 6 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of another embodiment of the invention in which the leaf spring is detachable from the heel binding;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of a modified boot heel binding in which a heel abutment member is mounted on a turntable.

Corresponding parts of the drawings are indicated by the same reference numerals.

Referring to the drawings, a ski body Ill has a skiers boot 11 releasably attached thereto by means of boot toe binding structure 12, a separable boot heel binding structure 13, a boot engaging harness 14, an anchoring block 15 and a latching assembly 16.

The boot harness 14 includes a strap or long thong 17 and a ring 18.

The separable heel binding structure 13, which is releasable from the ski as a unit, includes a base plate 19, a leaf spring 21), a heel abutment member 21, a turntable structure 22, and a pair of harness engaging tongues 23. The heel abutment member 21 has a horizontal base 24 and an upstanding, transversely arcuate abutment portion at the rear which is adapted to receive the heel of the skiers boot and prevent rearward displacement of the boot relative to the base plate 19. The base 24 of heel abutment member 21 is positioned above an optional spacing plate 25, the forward end of the leaf spring 20 and the rear end of the base plate 19. The sandwich formed in this way is permanently united by suitable fastening means such as screws or rivets 26. The heel abutment member 21 may optionally be mounted directly on the turntable structure 22 as shown in FIG. 7. The turntable structure 22 is pivotally movable above the base plate 19 around a suitable pivot means 27. Projecting from opposite sides of the turntable structure 22, at suitable locations intermediate the front and rear ends thereof, are outwardly offset, upwardly projecting, harness engaging tongues 23; said tongues having, adjacent their free ends, openings 28 through which straps or long thongs 17 of boot engaging harness 14 extend, whereby the separable heel binding structure 13 is secured to the ski boot 11. The tongues 23, which are preferably adjustably connected to the structure 13 to permit accommodation of boots of varying widths, serve to straddle the boot and thus prevent sidewise displacement of the boot relative to the ski.

The forward edge of the base plate 19 is provided with a pair of upwardly extending lugs 29 disposed at the sides of the base plate and an upwardly extending intermediate lug 30. The leaf spring 20 is provided with a small hole 31 to accommodate the spike of a ski pole and terminates at its rear end in an upwardly extending flange 32.

The anchoring block 15 is permanently mounted transversely on the ski body 10 by means of screws 33 or other suitable fastening means and is provided at its rear edge with a pair of raised shoulders 34 and an intermediate n-otch 35; recesses 36 being formed in this way between the shoulders 34 and the ski body 10.

The spring retaining latch assembly 16 includes a latch base 37 provided with a hole 38 through which a pivot pin 39 is inserted so as to project vertically upward. The pivot pin 39 has a fiat head 40 having a beveled edge 41 which fits into a bevel 42 countersunk in the under side of the latch base 37 around the hole 38 so that the head 40 of the pivot pin is flush with the under surface of the latch base. The latch base 37, which is permanently fastened to the ski body 10 by means of screws 43 or other suitable means, has an opening 44 in its forward edge and a depression 45 in its upper surface located to the rear of the hole 38 and the pivot pin 39 extending therethrough. A spring latch lever 46 having a hole 47 is mounted on the latch base with the pivot pin 39 projecting upwardly through the hole 47. A cap 48 is fastened to the upper end of the pivot pin 39 by screw threads or other suitable means to retain the latch lever 46 which is free to pivot under manual pressure through an arc of somewhat less than 180 as shown in FIG. 2. The latch lever 46 is provided with a detent or catch 49 which cooperates with depression 45 in the latch base 37 to yieldably resist pivotal movement of latch lever 46 away from the central position shown in full lines in FIG. 2. The latch lever 46 may optionally be provided with an upwardly extending flange 50 to facilitate manual operation. The forward end 51 of latch lever 46 is offset upwardly as shown to provide a recess 52 to accommodate flange 32 of leaf spring 20.

The separable heel binding structure 13 is operably and releasably connected to the ski body as shown, e.g., in FIGS. 2 and 5 by first sliding the forward end of the base plate 19 into withdrawable engagement with anchoring block whereby the lugs 29 engage shoulders 34 and the lug projects upwardly through the notch 35 between the shoulders 34 thus preventing sidewise movement of the forward end of the base plate 19 and structure 13. The leaf spring 20, which when untensioned has an upwardly curved configuration, as shown in FIG. 5, is then tensioned by applying a downward force on its upwardly curved free end, e.g., by means of a ski pole spike inserted in the hole 31 provided for that purpose. As the spring leaf 20 is forced downwardly, the latch lever 46 is pivoted manually to one side, as shown in broken lines in FIG. 2, to uncover the opening 44 in the forward edge of the latch base 37 into which opening the free end of the leaf spring 20 is forced. The latch lever 46 is then manually pivoted back to the central position, shown in full lines in FIG. 2, and the spring leaf 20 is released from the downward force, whereby the tension in the spring leaf 20 forces the flange 32 at its free end into contact with the under side of the end 51 of latch lever 46. The tension in, and extended length of, the spring leaf 20 also forces the forward edge of the base plate 19 against the anchoring block 15 thus holding the separable heel binding structure 13 in tight but resilient and releasable contact with the ski body 10.

For cooperation with the above described boot heel releasable attachment means, the ski body 10 should preferably be provided with means to engage and hold the toe of boot 11 against the ski body subject to release and withdrawal when the heel portion of the boot is released. Such boot toe engaging means may be of any suitable form and construction which is adapted to function in the manner specified.

A desirable releasable boot toe attachment means is disclosed in detail in my prior United States Letters Patent No. 2,616,714, granted November 4, 1952. Again referring to the drawings, such a boot toe attachment means generally comprises a toe plate 77 which is afiixed to the boot sole at the toe, said toe plate having a forwardly projecting portion which is indented by a seating notch 78, and a holding means which is cooperative with said toe plate. Said holding means comprises a latching stud 79 and a spring actuated thrust means 80, with a pivotal joint 81 connecting said latching stud and thrust means in end to end relation. Said parts are supported by upstanding end plates 82 and 83 of base 84, the latter being secured to the ski body 10 by the screws 85 or other suitable fastening means. The rear free end of the latching stud 79 engages in the seating notch 78 of the toe plate 77. The latching stud 79 is provided with a radially extending fulcrum flange 86 adapted to normally bear flatly against a face of the end plate 83 of the fixed base 84 under the pressure of the spring actuated thrust means 80. Peripheral portions of the fulcrum flange 86 provide fulcrum points about which the latching stud 79 can pivot relative to said end plate 83, when said latching stud is subjected to transversely applied or uplifting force sufficient to overpower the counterforce of the thrust means 80, thereby to disengage the latching stud 79 from the seating notch 78 of the boot toe plate 77, with boot toe releasing effect, all as more particularly set forth in my aforesaid prior Patent No. 2,616,714.

It will be understood that the latch assembly 16, which normally holds down the end flange 32 of leaf spring 20, inhibits sidewise movement of the spring and attached heel binding structure by confining the end of the leaf spring in the opening 44 in latch base 37. The tension in the leaf spring 20 and the restraint of the latch lever 46 also resist any displacement of the separable heel binding structure 13 from its boot attaching relation to the ski body 11 due to normal upward pulling stresses or strains to which the ski is subjected in use. In the event of a fall or other occurrence which induces an abnormal upward pulling stress or strain, tending to separate the structure 13 and boot 11 from attached relation to the ski body, said leaf spring 20 will yield so as to disengage the flange 32, releasing the spring and separable heel binding structure 13 from attachment to the ski body. Lesser shocks or strains, however, may merely cause the leaf spring to bow as shown in FIG. 4 and permit the skiers boot heel to lift from the ski body without releasing the separable heel binding structure 13, thus providing a resilient binding between the ski boot and ski.

When the separable heel binding structure 13 and boot 11 are released from the holding effect of the latching means 16, the structure 13 tends to move rearwardly, withdrawing its forward edge and lugs 29 and 30 from the recesses 36 of the anchoring block 15, thereby fully detaching the separable heel binding structure 13 and boot 11 from the ski body 11 As the separable heel binding structure 13, and consequently boot 11 which is tied thereto by the long thong harness 14, is separated from the ski body as described above, it will be obvious that the toe of the boot 11 will free itself from the forward boot toe binding means 12, and consequently the skiers boot will be entirely detached and separated from the ski.

It will be apparent from the above discussion that the coupling of the ski to the users boot according to this invention permits use of a strap or long throng harness in connection with the boot and leg of the skier, which use is so frequently desired by skiers, while nevertheless providing the additional advantage of quick and automatic separation and detachment of the skiers boot from the ski, as a safety factor in the event of a fall or other mishap.

With respect to the use of a strap or long thong harness for binding a ski to the skiers boot, it is also desirable to permit more or less free twisting or turning of the boot relative to the attached ski, when lateral movement of the toe of the boot is required to effect boot toe release. To permit this the harness can be connected with a turntable structure mounted on the ski. The advantages of such an arrangement are provided by turntable structure 22 adapted to rotate around pivot means 27 mounted on base plate 19. Although a simple unitary turntable provided with integal harness engaging tongues 23 will serve, it is preferred to employ a turntable such as that described and claimed in my copending United States patent application Serial No. 383,283, filed July 17, 1964. Such a turntable, shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, includes a bottom plate 53 having an annular, downwardly projecting boss 54 which serves to reduce friction between the turntable structure 22 and the base plate 19, and a top plate 55. A pair of intermediate plates 57 and 59 are provided, carrying means, not shown, for releasably and adjustably engaging the ends of tongues 23 inserted into the turntable structure 22 between the bottom plate 53 and top plate 55. The bottom plate 53, top plate 55 and intermediate plates 57 and 59 are fastened together in a unified structure by suitable means such as rivets 62.

Rotation of the turntable structure 22 may be facilitated by providing guide means at the periphery of the turntable which also serve to retain the latter in association with the structure 13. These means consist of the guide plate 74 which overhangs the edge of bottom plate 53, at the forward end of the structure 13 and the edge of base 24 of member 21 which similarly overhangs the rearward edge of the bottom plate 53. Guide plate 74- is mounted above a spacing plate 75 by means of rivets 76 secured to base plate 19.

It will be understood that the harness 14, being anchored to turntable structure 22 by engagement with tongues 23, will, when exerting twisting pull upon the turntable, cause it to yield rotatably to sidewise movement of the boot toe when release thereof is required.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the boot heel bindings of the present invention should be designed to permit release of the separable structure 13 from the ski body under the influence of a force less than that which would cause serious injury to the skiers leg by bone fracture or otherwise. The magnitude of the maximum permissible release force will, of course, depend upon the physique of the individual skier using the hindings; a lesser release force being required for safety if the binding is to be used by a skier of light build, but a greater release force, providing more secure attachment, being permissible for a heavier or stronger skier. A leaf spring 20 having a thickness of 0.05 in., a curvature when relaxed such that the distance between its free end and the ski body is about in. when the base plate 19 is flat against the ski, and which is capable of being tensioned and set under the latch lever 46 by a downward force of about 25 lbs. applied at the hole 31 by a ski pole, has been found to require a lifting force of about 200 lbs. applied at the tongues 23, to release the separable structure 13 from the ski body. A heel binding of the invention employing such a leaf spring permits upward displacement of the structure 13 above the ski body a distance of about /8 in., at the position of tongues 23 before release. Heel bindings having these characteristics have been found suitable for use by skiers of average build weighing about 150 to 200 lbs.

In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 6 the base plate 19 of structure 13 is provided with an upstanding flange 8 adapted to engage a similar upstanding flange on a leaf spring 20 which is detachably fixed to flange 8 by notched head threaded bolt 9 or any other suitable means. The detachable leaf spring 20 is also provided with a horizontal flange '7 having an arcuate cut out portion adapted to receive the curved heel abutment member 21. Such an arrangement makes it possible to change the leaf spring 20 on the heel binding for a similar leaf spring of a different stiffness, thus increasing the versatility of the heel binding.

Although the new ski bindings of the invention have been described above as including the preferred turntable structure, such a structure may be omitted with loss of safety. In this case the harness tongues 23 may be attagched directly to or made integral with the base plate 1 The specific embodiments of the invention described above are given by way of illustration and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the invention defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding for securely but resiliently and releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski which comprises in combination, a base plate, a leaf spring having one end connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed non-operative position but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, long thong harness engaging means mounted on said ski binding, anchoring means, to be permanently mounted on a ski, adapted to withdrawably engage the forward end of said base plate and to prevent forward, upward and lateral movement of said base plate when engaged, and latch means, to be permanently mounted on a ski, adapted to releasably hold down the free end of said leaf spring in tensioned operative position, sald binding being operative to resiliently absorb sudden shocks in normal skiing use but being adapted to automatically release a skiers boot from a ski in response to an abnormally strong, steady, pull causing release of the free end of said leaf spring from said latch means.

2. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding for securely but resiliently and releasably attachingthe heel of a skiers boot to a ski which comprises in comb1nation, a base plate, a heel abutment member mounted at the rear end of said base plate adapted to receive and prevent rearward movement of the heel of a skiers boot, a leaf spring having one end connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed non-operative positlon but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, long thong harness engaging means mounted on said base plate, anchoring means, to be permanently mounted on a ski. adapted to withdrawably engage the forward end of said base plate and to prevent forward, upward and lateral movement of said base plate when engaged, and latch means, to be permanently mounted on a ski, adapted to releasably hold down the free end of said leaf spring in tensioned operative position, said binding being operative to resiliently absorb sudden shocks in normal skiing use but being adapted to automatically release a skiers boot from a ski in response to an abnormally strong, steady, pull causing release of the free end of said leaf spring from said latch means.

3. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding for securely but resiliently and releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski which comprises in combination, a base plate, a heel abutment member mounted on said ski binding, a leaf spring having one end detachably connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed non-operative position but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, turntable means mounted on said base plate, long thong harness engaging means mounted on said turntable means, anchoring means, to be permanently mounted on a ski, adapted to withdrawably engage the forward end of said base plate and to prevent forward, upward and lateral movement of said base plate when engaged, and latch means, to be permanently mounted on a ski, including a latch base having means to receive the free end of said leaf spring to prevent lateral movement of said spring, and a latch lever pivotally mounted on said latch base, said latch lever being manually pivotable between a central position in which the forward end of said lever releasably engages and holds down the free end of said leaf spring and at least one lateral position in which the forward end of the lever fails to engage the free end of said leaf spring when it is positioned in the receiving means therefor in said latch base, said binding being op erative to resiliently absorb sudden shocks in normal skiing use but being adapted to automatically release a skiers boot from a ski in response to an abnormally strong, steady, pull causing release of the free end of said leaf spring from said latch means.

4. A ski binding of claim 3 in which said heel abutment member is mounted on said base plate.

5. A ski binding of claim 3 in which said heel abutment member is mounted on said turntable means.

6. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding for securely but resiliently and releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski which comprises in combination, a base plate, a leaf spring having one end connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed non-operative position but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, and long thong harness engaging means mounted on said ski binding.

7. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding for securely but resiliently and releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski which comprises in combination, a base plate, a leaf spring having one end connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed nonoperative position but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, turntable means mounted on said base plate, long thong harness engaging means mounted on said turntable means, and a heel abutment member mounted on said ski binding adapted to receive and prevent rearward movement of the heel of a skiers boot.

8. A ski binding of claim 7 in which said heel abutment member is mounted on said base plate.

9. A ski binding of claim 7 in which said heel abutment member is mounted on said turntable means.

10. An automatically releasable long thong ski binding, securely but resiliently and releasably attaching the heel of a skiers boot to a ski, adapted for use with a releasable toe binding, which comprises in combination, a base plate, a heel abutment member mounted at the rear end of said base plate, a leaf spring having one end detachably connected to said base plate and a free end extending rearwardly therefrom, the free end of said leaf spring curving upwardly from said base plate when said spring is in relaxed non-operative position but being adapted to be forced downwardly into an operative position whereby said leaf spring is tensioned, turntable means mounted on said base plate, long thong harness engaging means mounted on said turntable means, a long thong harness tying said ski boot to said harness engaging means, anchoring means, permanently mounted on said ski, adapted to withdrawably engage the forward end of said base plate and to prevent forward, upward and lateral movement of said base plate when engaged, and latch means, permanently mounted on said ski, adapted to releasably hold down the free end of said leaf spring in tensioned operative position, said binding being operative to resiliently absorb the sudden shocks of normal skiing but being adapted to automatically release said skiers boot from said ski in response to an abnormally strong, steady, pull causing release of the free end of said leaf spring from said latch means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,433,161 12/1947 SchwarZe 280-1135 2,616,714 11/1952 Cubberley 280-1135 2,686,059 8/1954 Whitaker 280-1l35 2,868,555 1/1959 Barnett et al. 280-1135 2,954,236 9/1960 Osborn 280-11.35

FOREIGN PATENTS 900,673 10/ 1944 France.

244,862 6/ 1947 Switzerland.

271,146 1/ 1951 Switzerland.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Primary Examiner. MILTON L. SMITH, Examiner. 

6. AN AUTOMATICALLY RELEASABLE LONG THONG SKI BINDING FOR SECURELY BUT RESILIENTLY AND RELEASABLY ATTACHING THE HEEL OF A SKIER''S BOOT TO A SKI WHICH COMPRISES IN COMBINATION, A BASE PLATE, A LEAF SPRING HAVING ONE END CONNECTED TO SAID BASE PLATE AND A FREE END EXTENDING REARWARDLY THEREFROM, THE FREE END OF SAID LEAF SPRING CURVING UPWARDLY FROM SAID BASE PLATE WHEN SAID SPRING IS IN RELAXED 